County of Stanislaus v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

*860 OPINION

The issues in this appeal are at the intersection of federal regulation of interstate commerce and the antitrust laws. We are asked to determine what interest must yield when federal regulatory review leads to allegedly anticompetitive behavior: specifically, whether federal review of natural gas importation, transportation, and sales precludes antitrust claims for behavior underlying or leading to the regulatory result. We hold that it does and therefore affirm the district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs-appellants in this class action are individuals and entities who received natural gas (“gas”) service from defendant Pacific Gas & Electric Company (“PG & E”) from February 1988 through October 1993. Within the plaintiff class are two types of gas customers: core customers and non-core customers. Core customers, according to plaintiffs’ complaint, “are residential and commercial customers without alternate fuel capability.” Plaintiff Mary Grogan is the class representative for the core customers. Non-core customers, by contrast, are large commercial and industrial consumers that are capable of purchasing gas from…